Last month, wanting a break from the cold, we decided it would be fun to go on a Sarasota Day Trip. To align our schedules, I threw caution to the wind and took off a Tuesday, with the blind faith that nothing would go awry and we would be back that night so I could work and go to school on Wednesday. My husband frequently non-revs with his coworkers, and I wanted to join the fun.

Why a Sarasota Day Trip?

We decided on Sarasota for two reasons. Firstly, the weather looked fabulous. Secondly, there were many open seats each way. We agreed to drive to Charlotte instead of departing from our local airport because the connection home looked grim. This plan turned out to be wise.

My husband, two of his coworkers and I jumped in a car and embarked to Charlotte International Airport. We flew through TSA and enjoyed a complimentary breakfast in the lounge, utilizing our guest passes. As expected, we all received seat assignments and left for our adventure.

Siesta Key Beach

Upon arrival, we all crammed into an Uber and headed to Siesta Key Beach. We zoomed past a variety of multi-million dollar homes along the way. The sun was out, and the beach was empty. We took advantage and strolled along the length of the beach, admiring the day and the seashells. The sand was remarkably compacted, making for easy walking.

Lunch on a Sarasota Day Trip

After enjoying the beach, we meandered to find lunch. We ended up at a hotel with an open-air restaurant/food truck. I ordered a fish sandwich, which was a little oily but delicious. At this point, Bryan’s coworker had officially decided it may have been a bad idea to wear thermals to Florida and promptly switched his attire accordingly. We moved to a sunny table on the sidewalk and enjoyed our meal.

The Illustrious Pier

Looking for something else to do, Bryan had discovered a Pier on Google Maps. Thinking it could be fun, we set off to find the pier. Upon our arrival, we could quickly see that the “pier” was underwhelming. There was no structure extending into the water to walk on. Instead, a few linear wood piles lined the beach, punctuated with flagpoles in the middle. We chucked at the lackluster result of our quest to find the pier and decided to get some gelato.

Gelato

Walking past beach houses, most of which were vacation rentals, we entered a more commercial zone. Here, we enjoyed what seemed to be legitimate gelato. I ordered half lemon and half key lime, which were both delicious. The shop had more naturally colored gelato and had each tin covered, which Bryan said was a good sign that it was real. It has been a long time since I was in Italy, but it tasted similar to me!

Right across from the gelato shop, there was a souvenir place. We scoured the shelves for our respective keepsakes. As usual, I selected a sticker for my travel journal. Feeling like we had seen what there was to see in Siesta Key, we decided to travel back to the airport slowly. We had passed by a mini-golf place on the drive out and decided that it would be fun to play a round.

Putt-Putt

We selected our clubs and set off to putt, electing to avoid keeping score in favor of low-pressure fun. The course was entertaining, and we thoroughly enjoyed our round of putt-putt. It was a great group activity, so it was the perfect choice for the four of us.

The Return from a Sarasota Day Trip

Having expended our allotted time, we needed to return to the airport. The Uber we called could not take all four of us. We debated waiting for another but decided that we would walk instead. I would not recommend that, especially alone, because airports aren’t always in the nicest areas. Nonetheless, we made it to the airport unscathed.

We had a momentary concern when our flight was delayed due to a problem on the runway. Our incoming plane diverted to Tampa. We got lucky, and before the plane landed in Tampa, the runway in Sarasota cleared, and our plane could land. I was especially grateful, as a long delay would have meant a really short night of sleep. We successfully made it home, and I went to work the following day like nothing out of the ordinary had happened the day before.

See my post on day trips for more spontaneous inspiration!

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